SECTUR: Tourism activity in Mexico must quickly adapt to the challenges of the sector

Miguel Torruco Marqués, highlighted before the members of the Female Association of Tourism Business Executives (AFEET), authorities, leaders and representatives of this industry, that tourism activity must quickly adapt to the challenges of the sector and the demands of an increasingly informed and demanding tourist, through the use of new technologies and tools available.

At the inauguration of the VII AFEET International Congress, whose motto is “Tourism 360: expanding horizons,” the head of the Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) highlighted the role of this pioneering organization in female leadership in the tourism sector, which is made up of more than 360 members in 11 states of the country, who through events such as this one promote innovation in tourism activity in Mexico.

Accompanied by the president of AFEET, Karin Baldamus Paasche, she indicated that tourism is an activity in which various sectors of the population converge, with particular preferences and expectations, and that our efforts to promote and satisfy needs must be directed towards all of them, with an innovative and avant-garde approach, but also with a more sustainable and social vision.

In this regard, he pointed out that given the opportunities offered by technology, the agency under his charge in 2020, the year of the pandemic, instead of canceling the Tianguis Turístico México, as happened with tourism fairs around the world, innovated with the digital edition, a formula that was replicated in the second and third edition of the Tianguis de Pueblos Mágicos, having great acceptance.

Likewise, the digital platforms “Pueblos Mágicos, México Desconocido” and “Visit México” have been updated and improved, the latter in 8 languages, where through videos and photos, the vast tourist offer of our country is highlighted.

He mentioned that another of the actions carried out by Sectur was to innovate and put Ángeles Verdes' roadside assistance services at the forefront, after a 20-year technological abandonment. In 2022, the “Alfonso García González” Geointelligence Center was launched, named in honor of the founder of this program; and which allows the service to be carried out more quickly and accurately, since units can now be located in real time and response time estimated.

“We now have information that has never been generated before, such as the vehicle models that have been involved in the most accidents; the road sections with the highest accident rate; the busiest roads; the areas with the highest risk, and even the colour and make of the vehicles with the highest number of incidents, among many other data,” he said.

The “Ángeles Verdes” application was also designed so that tourists can request assistance from the corporation free of charge from mobile devices.

Torruco Marqués said that another tool at his disposal is the DataTur site, where two important studies can be found that have been prepared for better decision-making by those involved in the tourism sector: “Regional digitalization of tourist-oriented places in Mexico” and “Analysis of income and estimation of the lodging tax.” 

At the same time, the new platform of the National Tourism Registry (RNT) was launched, with its mobile application, which provides general information on registered tourism service providers, as well as their behavior in the commercial bureau of the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco), their status before the Tax Administration Service (SAT), with which frauds that occur in the tourism sector will be significantly reduced.

He reiterated that another issue that has been pending for 25 years was the modernization of the migration modules. In this regard, an initiative was proposed to the plenary to modify Article 35 of the Migration Law, in order to allow the digitalization of the migration modules to speed up entry into our country, avoiding the recurrent "bottlenecks."

This initiative was approved unanimously in both Chambers, and today, these modules operate as a pilot plan at the AICM and the Cancun Airport. In the latter, the wait was reduced from 2 hours 45 minutes per person to just 7 minutes during peak hours.

He said that this work will be replicated in the air terminals of Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Guadalajara, Monterrey and Tijuana, which represent 90% of inbound tourism arrivals to Mexico.

The Secretary of Tourism reiterated that the tools available to promote tourism should be used, such as “artificial intelligence,” which personalizes tourist offers for potential tourists; “Big Data,” which allows identifying patterns and trends in the behavior of travelers, for the development of plans, programs and strategies; and “augmented reality,” with which visitors obtain additional information about points of interest, gastronomy or public transportation routes, among other aspects.

“We have been living in intense and interesting times, where tourism activity has to adapt quickly to the new challenges and demands of an increasingly informed and demanding tourist. Let us change the old approaches; let us build a tourism that drives economic development and is a tool for social reconciliation, so as to 'leave no one behind, leave no one out', as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has pointed out on multiple occasions,” he concluded.

For her part, AFEET President Karin Baldamus said that the main tourism players will meet at this Congress to analyze the challenges and opportunities of the sector in a complex world. Travel trends, health tourism, sustainability, artificial intelligence and innovation in hospitality will also be discussed to create memorable experiences for tourists.

In turn, the director of the Faculty of Tourism and Gastronomy of the Universidad Anáhuac, José Ángel Díaz Rebolledo, highlighted that women play a fundamental role in the development of the tourism sector and recognized the holding of this event, where achievements and actions to face the future of this industry will be reflected upon.

The inauguration of the AFFET International Congress was also attended by the president of Asetur and Secretary of Tourism of Nayarit, Juan Enrique Suárez del Real Tostado; the president of CNET, Braulio Arsuaga Losada; the president of the Metropolitan Association of Travel Agencies, Alicia Mejía; the president of Conexstur, Víctor Enríquez; among other representatives, businessmen from the tourism sector and students.

Source: SECTUR.